Why my laptop is not connecting to mobile hotspot windows 7

Table of Contents Show

What You’ll Need
Turn Your Windows 7 Laptop into a WiFi Hotspot
Why I am not able to connect my mobile hotspot to laptop?
Can we connect Windows 7 to mobile hotspot?

While traveling, you might be in a situation where you only have a wired Ethernet connection and a Windows 7 laptop. Here’s how to make your laptop a WiFi hotspot and share the Internet connection with other devices.

While WiFi is essentially everywhere you look, sometimes while traveling, you’ll be in a situation where you only have a wired Ethernet connection. What happens then if you need to connect your “WiFi only” device to the internet? If you have a Windows 7 laptop, you can turn it into a WiFi hotspot and share its wireless connection with your device via an Ad Hoc network. Here’s how to do it without third-party utilities.

Note: Windows 8 has quietly removed this feature, but you can still do this with XP – Windows 7. And if you are running Windows 10, make sure to read our article on making Windows 10 a Wi-Fi hotspot.

What You’ll Need

A Laptop with built-in WiFi capability
A mobile device with WiFi capability (For example Kindle Fire HD, iPod touch, Nexus 7)
A hard-wired Ethernet connection

Turn Your Windows 7 Laptop into a WiFi Hotspot

Click the wired network connection icon in the System Tray and select Open Network and Sharing Center.

In the screen that opens, click “Set Up a New Connection or Network” under Change your Network Settings.

Now select the bottom option to set up a wireless ad-hoc network.

The Wireless Ad Hoc Network wizard will start up. Click Next.

On the next screen, give your ad-hoc network a name, select your security type, and enter a security key. If you’re in a public place, I recommend WPA2 for the best security of your network.

It should just take a few seconds, and your ad-hoc network will be ready to use.

If you click the connection icon in the system tray, you’ll see the network you just created in the list waiting for users.

Then go to Network and Sharing Center and select Change Adapter Settings.

Then check “Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection” and click OK.

Now you’ll be able to see the shared WiFi connection from your laptop on your mobile device. Just connect to it and you’ll have internet access on the device in no time.

**NOTE: After 10 years, security updates and technical support for Windows 7 ended on January 14, 2020. Using Windows 7 will be at your own risk. **

For Windows 7 users, here is a way to turn your laptop into a WiFi hotspot. Note that you would need a compatible/ updated Windows 7 wireless network adapter driver. To date, brand names like Atheros, Broadcom and Realtek have been known to work. (Most of the newer laptops come with the above brands.)

1. Click Start (i.e. the Windows logo at the bottom left hand corner), type Cmd, right-click the Cmd.exe link and select “Run as Administrator”. If you don’t have that option, you aren’t an Administrator to your computer and you can’t proceed unless you’re setup as one.

2. Type the command below:

netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=MyNetworkhere key=Password

and press [Enter]. Replace “MyNetworkhere” with the name you’d like to use for your new wifi network, and “Password” with a password of your choice.

3. While you are still at the command line, type

netsh wlan start hostednetwork

4. and press [Enter] to start the virtual adapter.

5. Now click Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Centre > Change Adapter Settings, right-click your internet connection and select Properties. Click the Sharing tab, check “Allow other network users to connect…”, choose your virtual Wi-Fi adapter.

That’s it! From now on, any WiFi capable device will able to pick up your laptop as a Wifi hotspot. Your WiFi network name (or SSID) will be what you defined above. Guess what, you’ve just learnt a trick to bypass having to purchase a wireless router for your house (with some minor downsides of course).

If you don’t want to share your laptop hotspot anymore:

Click Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Centre > Change Adapter Settings, right-click your internet connection and select Properties. Click the Sharing tab, uncheck “Allow other network users to connect…”, click OK .

*Disclaimer: If done correctly, the above instructions should not cause problems with your computer. However, we will not be held responsible for any corrupted settings or if your operating system ends up being inoperable. Use this tip/trick at your own risk. Due to high volume of comments (asking for support and suggestions to why it is not working), we have made the decision that we will not respond to any support requests beyond this article. *

Why I am not able to connect my mobile hotspot to laptop?

Every device on your computer is controlled by a certain driver software. So a wireless network has a driver that controls it. If this driver is outdated or corrupt, then your hotspot and WiFi might be negatively affected. So, updating your wireless network driver can help your computer connect to your hotspot again.

Can we connect Windows 7 to mobile hotspot?

to Settings > Network & Internet and then tap Hotspot & Tethering > WiFi Hotspot. router, to go online. You can also tether your computer to your smartphone via Bluetooth and connect to the internet. Pair both devices and then set up your computer to get the network connection via Bluetooth.